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How to get my baby to sleep alone

Hello,

My 18 month old daughter refuses to take a nap in the day or even sleep at nights without me. There are times when this possible, but other times, I need her to go sleep by herself so I can get some work done. How can I change this?

I would suggest developing a rountine to start sending her signals that it will soon be time for sleep. At night time I suggest gearing her toward bedtime an hour before you actually want her to go to sleep. Turn the lights down, turn off the TV and turn on soft relaxing music. Give her a bath, read her a story, then lay her down tuck her in and leave the room. If she gets up, gently direct her back to bed and keep doing this calming and quietly. Soothing music or white noise can be very effective at nap time and bed time.

At nap time I have always fed my boys lunch so they have nice full tummies, read then a book or two and put on the soothing music or white noise.

I used co-sleeping for a long time with most of my children, but when we did start transitioning them to their own bed, we tried to put a routine in place. This article gives some wonderful tips for putting a baby to sleep that would also apply to a toddler. For the routine, it doesn't have to be anything very strict or structured, just some type of routine so your child knows that it is bedtime, such as taking a bath, putting on pajamas, reading a book, and dimming the lights. I agree with the above post to try using white noise or music. My oldest child still needs music to fall asleep, so having a radio on or using some type of white noise may be helpful. Are you breastfeeding? I sometimes still breastfeed my youngest to sleep and lay with him for a few moments, then he usually falls asleep and I can get back up to go finish some work or clean. For nap times, we try to dim lights and close curtains to help our children fall asleep easier. I usually tell my older children that they don't have to sleep, but they do have to rest for a little while, which helps keep the noise level down so the younger ones can fall asleep.